Coping with the Silly Season - P - Plan Ahead

Let's face it, we all know how crazy this time of year can be, but we still act surprised when the craziness hits.  There's still a month until Christmas, so start planning and do some of the simple things ahead of time.

Coping with the Silly Season - O - Out-of-Office Reply

If at all possible, load your email out-of-office reply a couple of days before your Christmas holidays begin.  The writers will assume you have already left for your Christmas break, and won't be expecting a reply until you get back.  This gives you a chance to complete any important or urgent tasks, without being bogged-down by things that can wait.

Wednesday's Word of the Week - Pigeonholing

Life is so much easier if we can put labels on people! Pigeonholing permits us to wash our hands and leave.

“Oh I know him—he’s an alcoholic.

“She’s a liberal Democrat.”

“He’s divorced.”

Categorizing others creates distance and gives us a convenient exit strategy for avoiding involvement. Jesus took an entirely different approach. He was all about including people.

John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.”

Jesus touched lepers and loved foreigners. His Facebook page included the likes of Matthew the IRS agent, and some floozy he met at Simon’s house. Jesus set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave. He became human!

Jesus sends this message: Don’t call any person common. Don’t call any person unfit! Every person matters to God.

From GRACE by Max Lucado

Coping with the Silly Season - N - No, No, No

Don't be afraid to say no.  Say no to Christmas parties, say no to working late, say no to last minute catch-ups with people who think everything needs to happen before Christmas.  Remember Christmas is a season, and in New Zealand, it carries right through till the end of January.  Make a plan to fit everything in over the whole holiday period - not just a few weeks in December.

Toolbox Tuesday - Use Your Testimonials

22. Use Your Testimonials

It’s one thing for you to tell people how great you are, but it’s a whole lot more valuable if someone else does it for you. Gather testimonials from your volunteers about how much fun it is to be involved with your organisation, ask clients or past clients to share how much they have benefited from your service, and encourage sponsors to give feedback about their involvement also. Once you have them, use them on every piece of marketing material you have. Leaving them in the office drawer is a waste of time and space!

Coping with the Silly Season - M - Money, Money, Money

Nothing causes more stress than money worries.  If you haven't done so already, make a realistic budget for Christmas, and then stick to it.  Make sure you include the hidden extra costs like petrol (for all the Christmas running around), food (for 'bring a plates'), gas for the BBQ and toilet paper (for all those extra guests).

Coping with the Silly Season - L - Lead by Example

I know this is sometimes easier said than done, but if you want your family and colleagues to get through the silly season feeling calm and relaxed, then you need to show them how its done.  If you feel like you are getting tetchy under pressure, take some time for yourself and work out what's going on.  Take deep breaths and prioritise your workload.  If you find yourself snapping at whoever walks through your door - take action and close the door!

Coping with the Silly Season - K - Keep it Fun

Even with busy workloads, you can still make your workplace fun.  Make an effort to put up some Christmas decorations, bring in some yummy morning tea, and wear a Santa hat if you need to.  Take little, inexpensive actions to instil some Christmas spirit in the daily grind.

Coping with the Silly Season - J - Joint Celebrations

While its nice to organise a Christmas Party for everyone involved with your organisation, it's not necessary to organise separate celebrations for every group of people.  Why not organise a joint celebration for all your programmes, donors, and supporters.

Not only will this save on time and expense, it is a great opportunity for the whole organisation to come together.  Donors can meet the people they support.  Members from one programme can meet members from another.  Supporters can learn aspects of your organisation that they might not otherwise hear about.

Win-win-win!

Coping with the Silly Season - I - Identify Your Triggers

You have been through this time of year many times before, so there's every chance you know what triggers your stress.  Identify your triggers before they happen, and have a plan to either avoid them or manage them.  Trying to figure it out in the heat of the moment just won't work.

Coping with the Silly Season - H - Holiday Focus

When you are on holiday, BE on holiday.  Resist the urge to check emails, or catch up on paperwork.  If you want to be truly effective when you return to work, you need a proper break.

Wednesday's Word of the Week - Some Days Never Come

“Someday we’ll take that cruise. . .”

“Someday I’ll have time to call and talk. . .”

“Someday, the children will understand why I was so busy. . .”

But you know the truth, don’t you? Some days never come.

Go to the effort. Invest the time. Make the apology. Take the trip. Do it. The seized opportunity renders joy. The neglected brings regret.

Remember Mary’s extravagance in pouring expensive perfume over Jesus’ head? And Jesus’ disciples criticizing her- “Why waste that perfume? It could have been sold for a great deal of money and given to the poor.”

Don’t miss Jesus’ prompt defense of Mary in Matthew 26:10: “Why are you troubling this woman? She did an excellent thing for me.”

Don’t miss Jesus’ message. There’s a time to pour out your affections on one you love.

And when the time comes—seize it!

From Cast of Characters by Max Lucado

Coping with the Silly Season - G - Get Moving

When life gets busy, it's easy to make excuses about not exercising because it feels like you don't have the time.  Trust me - if you keep exercising, you will be so much more productive in the time you do have.

Toolbox Tuesday - Tell Your Citizens Advice Bureau

21. Tell Your Citizens Advice Bureau

The Citizens Advice Bureau is still one of the first places people call when they need information – especially if they are new to town. Make sure the Citizens Advice Bureau has a brochure about your organisation, including details of how people can get in touch with you directly. If you do not have an office, make sure the personal contact details remain up-to-date as positions change.

Coping with the Silly Season - F - Family Focussed

Instead of organising a Christmas Party just for staff and volunteers, try organising an event where their families can also be involved.  This will make it easier for them to balance their work-family commitments, and you'll end up with a happier (less stressed) team.

Coping with the Silly Season - E - Eat Well

I know this sound cliché, but you really do cope better with stress when you eat well.  Granted it's difficult to eat like a saint with endless Christmas parties to attend, but when you are at home - stick to a plan.  Eat plenty of fruit and veges, drink lots of water, and limit your alcohol intake.  Besides, this way you'll enjoy the Christmas party treats so much more.

from Tonic magazine by EXULT

Coping with the Silly Season - D - Delegate

As a Mum, there are parts of Christmas I really like to organise myself.  Equally however, there are things that I truly loathe to do.  (Cleaning the deck-chairs is one!).  Whether at work, or at home, make sure you delegate the tasks that drain you of energy, and focus on the ones you enjoy.  What seems like a chore for you may well be a 'to-do list favourite' for someone else.  If you keep doing everything yourself, others will never get a chance to do the jobs they enjoy.

from Tonic magazine by EXULT

Coping with the Silly Season - C - Christmas Cards

A hand-written Christmas card is a simple way to acknowledge the support you have received from donors and volunteers throughout the year, but it can be a really time-consuming task if you have a long list of supporters.

Instead of trying to do them all on your own, give each of your team a list of supporters and ask them to choose 10 (or more) people whom they would like to thank-you to.  Most often staff will choose to thank people they have had some contact with, so not only does it help to share the load, it makes the acknowledgement more genuine as well.

from Tonic magazine by EXULT

Coping with the Silly Season - B - Bake Ahead

Christmas seems to be filled with functions where you need to 'bring a plate', but there's always so much going on, finding time to bake is almost impossible.  Now is a great time to do some bulk baking and pop it in the freezer.  That way you'll always have something on hand for those Christmas parties or unexpected guests.

from Tonic magazine by EXULT

Coping with the Silly Season - A - Ask for the Deadline

At this time of the year every deadline seems to be 'by Christmas', but chances are some deadlines are more flexible than this if you ask.  Work out which tasks have a firm deadline and worry about those things first.  If you complete the extra jobs before your holiday break, great - but don't put yourself under extra pressure for jobs that can wait.

from Tonic magazine by EXULT

Wednesday's Word of the Week - Jesus Honours You

You are valuable just because you exist! Remember that the next time some trickster tries to hang a bargain basement price tag on your self-worth.

Just think about the way Jesus honors you—and smile! I do. I smile because I know I don’t deserve a love like that. None of us do.

When you get right down to it, any contribution any of us makes is pretty puny. All of us, even the purest of us, deserve heaven about as much as that crook on the cross did.

It makes me smile to think there’s a grinning thief walking the golden streets of heaven who knows more about grace than a thousand theologians.

No one else would have given the thief on the cross a prayer. But in the end that is all he had. And in the end, that is all it took!

No wonder they call Jesus the Saviour. 

From Cast of Characters by Max Lucado

Toolbox Tuesday - Friends with a Columnist

20. Become Friends with a Columnist

If you look in your local newspaper you’ll see that there are weekly columns which focus on various aspects of your community. While all local papers are slightly different, chances are you will find one on the arts, sport and education, and the authors are likely to be ordinary people who are involved in these sectors.

Make friends with the columnist who discusses issues relating to your organisation. Feed them information about what your organisation is doing, and what events you may have coming up. They are always hungry for issues to discuss, so you will be doing them a favour by keeping them in the loop.

Wednesday's Word of the Week - We Are Valuable

Value is now measured by two criteria: appearance and performance. Where does that leave the ugly or uneducated? Where hope does that offer the unborn child? The aged? The handicapped? Not much at all. We become nameless numbers on mislaid lists.

This is man’s value system. But it is not God’s. His plan is much brighter. In God’s book man is heading somewhere. He has an amazing destiny.

We’re being prepared to walk down the church aisle and become the bride of Jesus. We’re going to live with him. Share the throne with him. We count. We’re valuable.

Jesus’ love does not depend on what we do for him. If there was anything that Jesus wanted everyone to understand it was this: A person is worth something simply because he is a person. That’s why Jesus treated people the way he did.

You have value simply because you are!

You are His.

From Cast of Characters by Max Lucado

Toolbox Tuesday - Enter Awards

19. Enter Awards

Entering awards is a great way to put the spotlight on your organisation and the people within it. Whether it’s business awards, volunteer awards, community spirit awards or something else, simply by entering you are saying to the community ‘we believe we are good at what we do, and we are prepared to stand up to scrutiny’.

The awards themselves always bring a degree of publicity, so make sure you piggy-back on that publicity and tell your own story about why you are entering. Whether you win or not, your willingness to be scrutinised brings valuable credibility.

To find awards offered in your region check with your local council and Chamber of Commerce.